David Lee King, Digital Services Director, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, led off this session by noting that he has been working with videos for more than 10 years. Video on the web is now easy to make and watch; it drives people to your website. People watch videos and like them. 78% of US internet users watch videos online every week; 55% watch them every day. Only 4% of the population prefers to read manuals to learn about a new product; 5% prefer to call the manufacturer, but 44% prefer to watch a video. Videos are everywhere on social media. According to Tubular Insights (a tracking website), the most popular video channel in the world is on Facebook. 10 billion videos are watched on Snapchat every day–a huge number!

Types of video that libraries might like to make:

Promotional to show off a new database or service,

Trainer and explainer videos,

News (interviews, reporting news of the library),

Story time,

Fun videos,

Book series,

Unique things (with 340,000 views, this is the most popular video in King’s library),

Short videos to post on social media, and

Live videos of reference interviews, book reviews etc.

What to consider:

The first 15 seconds tend to get watched, and if they do not attract the viewer’s interest, they will just click away. So just jump right in to the subject and put your most compelling content first.

Upload to Facebook separately because those videos will get favored more than ones taken from YouTube.

Share to Twitter or LinkedIn.

Think about who will make your video. If your organization is large enough, consider having a video team and figure out how much video you want to make.

Start simple with equipment; smartphones take remarkably good quality videos.

Ustadza Ely discussed how to harness the power of video in libraries. You can engage during library instruction to talk about library services by using Adobe Animate, Photoshop, or TurningPoint/Kahoot.

Videos are very useful for distance learners and for marketing the library’s physical collections. They are used to entice students to come and see the collections.

Questions to ask yourself: What is the audience, the goal. branding and connections, trends, staff time and professional development. Can you get others to sell your video for you? You might create a video about a faculty member’s class and mention the library material that is incorporated into the class.

Storyboarding is very important in video creation. Use a storyboard as a guide and ensure that the video has a natural flow.

Videos can be complicated; you need to communicate with other people when you are developing the story. Have a script and sync it with what will be shown.

Here are some tools for editing, filming, music, etc.

YouTube has a free music library. Be careful when uploading video to Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. It is fine to upload links to the video, but do not upload the whole video or else you will get into copyright trouble. There have been incidents where Facebook accounts have been deleted because of copyright violations.

As an example of the use of video, James Rider created a video for CIL that can also be used on its own or in conjunction with a library instruction. See it on the library’s YouTube channel.

This session addressed two projects in which makerspaces were created. Dominiique China and Erin Walker began by describing Makerspace Brampton in Brampton, Ontario, which launched in November 2014. The project now extends over all of the Brampton library’s 6 branches. They noted that invention literacy is the ability to read and write human-made stuff: understanding how something is made, how it works, and then applying that knowledge to bring one’s own ideas to life. Inventions are simply the human-made part of the world that we live in (see the article by Jay Silver, “Invention Literacy”, Medium.com, May 2016). They are not magic; if something can be created, we can improve it.

Makerspace Brampton is empowering people in three ways: zero to maker, maker to maker, and maker to market.

Zero to Maker targets children and families and novice makers of all ages. It is designed to foster invention and innovation through hands-on and play-to-learn activities that demystify fundamental concepts.

Maker to Maker (learn and collaborate) are more advanced programs that target teens and adults and promote collaboration and access to expertise and advanced application of skills.

Maker to Market (entrepreneurial imagination and commercialization) targets teens and adults, demystifies entrepreneurship, and encourages networking and mentorship. It is presented by the Brampton Economic Office and teaches practical skills for turning an idea into a viable startup, such as business basics and idea generation.

The next steps for the program are to formalize the partnership and expand program offerings. An additional 32 physical makerspaces are in development. Plans are also underway to continue to build the community of makers and supplement programming with a self-service model. Makerspace Brampton has been well received; over 8,000 people visited the makerspace in 2016.

Colleen Dearborn and Sussan Navabi have created a mobile memory lab at the Alsip-Marionette Park Library (near Chicago). The Alsip library director suggested creating a mobile makerspace, so Dearborn did a survey of what other libraries were doing. She drew on case studies mentioned in last year’s CIL talk (click here for the presentations from that conference) that Jamie Mears at the DC Public Library and I gave. Mears created a memory lab at her library, and Danielle Conklin wrote a chapter in Personal Archiving: Preserving Our Digital Heritage (Donald T. Hawkins, Information Today, 2013), in which she described relevant several case studies. (The Library of Congress maintains an excellent website with lots of helpful information on digital preservation). Based on her research, some recommended hardware was purchased for the makerspace.

Sussan Navabi was hired to set up the lab. Her advice is to set aside ample time for development; test a variety of materials, and include the library staff in the project to generate interest. For example, Navabi asked staff members to lend her their analog materials to test on the equipment, which generated interest and buy-in.

Some issues and problems that arose:

The hardware might work but the software bundled with it is not compatible with the devices your patrons will be using. Don’t try to patch the software–just return it and get something else.

Even if everything does work, patrons might want other features, so look for free apps and test them (be sure to check the rating). Navabi’s list of suggested software is here on the conference website.

Be sure you have adequate space for the makerspace and space for training the staff.

Visit other libraries to see what they are doing. Here are some questions to ask them:

Where to put the lab? Who staffs it? How to do training? When will it be available? Who will be accountable?

Instructions that typically come in the manuals for the equipment tend to be complicated and too long. So they created their own instruction pages. Be succinct, include as many screenshots as possible, and use bold keywords.

Experiment with all equipment, make the necessary adjustments to accommodate all skill levels, promote skill building.

Rebecca Stavick, Executive Director of Do Space, introduced Do Space and said it has been in operation for a little over a year. It is a community technology library in Omaha, Nebraska. Its mission is to empower our community through access to technology and innovative learning experiences. It is privately funded but has partnerships with public libraries. The digital divide is still a problem in our communities; Do Space is located in the middle of Omaha at the busiest intersection in Nebraska; 100,000 cars pass the intersection every day. Do Space is the beginning of a movement to tackle the digital divide, boost digital skills, and drive innovation, creativity, and invention in the region.

Do Space provides access to basic and advanced hardware ad software, such as PCs, Macs, industrial-quality 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics, as well as AutoCAD, the Adobe Creative Suite, and about 200 other types of software. It offers a diverse array of free technology learning programs and events for all ages: Littles Lab for preschoolers, Cyber Seniors for older adults (seniors learning and teaching each other in weekly workshops), workshops in the 3-D lab, community-led technology meetups, and other fun things.

Just like public libraries, Do Space serves everyone: families with small children, teenagers, working adults, senior citizens; job seekers, entrepreneurs, students, etc. Membership is free; anyone can join, regardless of where they live (bug they must physically visit the site to obtain their membership card). It has been very well received; 4,000 people came on opening weekend.

Do Space’s 28,000 square foot building

They have industrial quality 3-D printers, 56 laptops–both PCs and Macs, a variety of games with learning aspects. The second floor of the building is leased to a non-profit community college that provides access to higher-level experiences.

A volunteer program manages a lot of the activities. There are about 150 volunteers and a coordinator. A mentorship program–a network of volunteers who sign up to help people individually with technology questions–is in place.

Hack Omaha is a new program to engage people to work together and solve technology problems of the community.

I Heart Do Space allows people to put what they are doing into a system, and the postings are displayed on a video wall. These generate considerable interest.

A fellowship program to bring in 3 Fellows for the summer was recently announced. They get a $10,000 stipend to create innovative projects in 3-D printing, robotics, and software development.

Lee Rainie, Director, Internet, Science, and Technology Research, Pew Research Center, and a frequent and popular speaker at CIL conferences, presented the final day’s keynote address: “Where technology fits with library patrons’ needs”. The Onion regularly makes fun of Pew and puts up some parodies of its results. Click here to see Pew’s previous research on libraries.

There is a deep decline in trust in many organizations, but libraries have bucked that trend. People like and trust librarians and think that libraries are important, especially for communities. They think that libraries level the playing field for those without vast resources. Librares have re-branded themselves as technology hubs and are deeply appreciative of these changes. People still read books and like printed books more than e-books, by a 3 to 1 margin.

Here is some of Pew’s latest data on libraries from its 2016 study:

Over 40% of users used a library or bookmobile in the last 12 months. About 1/3 of them–more women than men and more younger people–used the library’s website.

Traditional activities like borrowing books or reading dominate library use, but people are also attending classes or other programs (class use was the activity that increased the most from 2015 to 2016).

Doing research or checking email are the most frequent uses of library technology resources, but more people are using them to take classes online than last year.

Here are some new research findings drawn from polls and focus groups.

Factors shaping people’s information interests include access to and use of libraries, personal tastes, trust in information sources, a personal growth mindset, life circumstances and time horizons, and access to information technology. People most engaged with information and bringing it into their lives are thinking more about the future. Thinking like a networker is an important thing for libraries to do.

Libraries are curators of the better quality of information, along with health care providers, family and friends. Social media is the least trustworthy.

Information users can be characterized in these five clusters:

The information wary (1/4 of the population): people with low levels of interest in info and low levels of trust in information sources. They don’t exhibit much interest in acquiring digital skills. This group is male-dominated, older, and not parents of minor children.

Information addled (1/4 of the population) have a fairly typical level of interest in information and visit the library on a par with others. But they have low levels of trust in information sources, especially news organizations. They are multitaskers, have trouble relaxing, and have little interest in improving their information literacy. They are male, suburban, and are better-off households.

Cautious and curious (1/8 of population) have an interest in information but not a lot of time or attention to pursue it. They have below average levels of trust in information but a high level of interest in acquiring digital skills. They could become more interested in pursuing information. Clearing trust hurdles is part of it; we need more time and attention to do this.

Eager and willing (1/5 of population) has the highest levels of interest in news and information, and a high degree of trust in information sources. They trust family and friends plus libraries and librarians as information sources but do not have an abundance of digital information access tools; over half of them report difficulty finding information online. They have a high degree of interest in training on digital skills and wish that a public library were closer to home and had expanded hours. They are mostly female; the majority of them are minorities, relatively young, and least well educated.

Information confident (1 in 6) have the highest levels of trust in information sources, above average interest in news with particular emphasis on government, politics, and foreign affairs. They have a lot of technology and don’t feel they need additional training in digital skills or how to determine the veracity of information for making decisions. This is a population that librarians should cherish. Many of them are mommy bloggers who write about school events, community zoning projects, etc. Many are equally male and female, white, young, and better educated.

Many people overwhelmingly say the library helps them. Finding trustworthy information is highly important, followed by learning new things, personal growth, and getting information to help in making decisions. Help given by libraries in focusing on things mattering in their life, coping with a busy world or a world where it is hard to get ahead, or protecting personal data from online thieves is not as important. 77% say the local library provides them with the resources they need.

Providing a safe place for people to spend time is extremely important. They also value the creation of educational opportunities for people of all ages, sparking creativity in young people, and serving as a gathering place for addressing challenges in the local community. 56% say it would have a major impact on the community if the library closed.

85% of people say that libraries should coordinate more closely with local schools in providing resources to kids. 73% of people think of themselves as lifelong learners and want to learn something to make their lives more interesting or something that would allow them to help others. 33% want to learn something to help with their children’s school work. 34% say libraries serve the learning and educational needs of them and their family.

The Aspen Institute report on the future of libraries did a survey and found that libraries are pathfinders for trusted information, and curators and arbiters of it. Libraries are technology and data experts, master teachers in an age of lifelong learning, and visionaries for the knowledge economy and the jobs it produces.

Nobody has had to reinvent themselves more than libraries in the past few years. They have needed to reconfigure and re-purpose themselves and become community resources. In the future, they should embrace the Internet of Things, become the “first place” to meet, fill in “market holes” or niches in the information marketplace, and become innovation test beds. Become trusted, top of mind institutions for learning, advocates for free and open, and closing digital divides, and privacy and algorithms watchdogs.

Libraries touch every part of our culture. It is a lifelong mission. So it’s scary to be in this environment, but fear not and thank you for being there.